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Johannessen: Soft Shore Protection as an Alternative to Bulkheads Soft Shore Protection as an Alternative to Bulkheads— Projects And Monitoring
BibTeX
@MISC{Johannessen_johannessen:soft,
author = {Jim W. Johannessen},
title = {Johannessen: Soft Shore Protection as an Alternative to Bulkheads Soft Shore Protection as an Alternative to Bulkheads— Projects And Monitoring},
year = {}
}
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Abstract
Traditional “hard ” bulkheading has been the norm at Puget Sound and Northwest Straits shores until very recently, when “soft shore protection ” alternatives have been encouraged by regulators and well-informed citizens. Soft shore protection locally entails the use of indigenous materials such as gravel, sand, logs, and root masses in designs that have some degree of flexibility, mimicking natural processes. Projects typically rebuild the high-tide beach to provide protection of property and homes and increase coastal sediment supply, the foundation of our sediment-starved coastal systems. Projects also have beneficial elements for nearshore habitats that include introduction of woody debris, shading, revegetation, and increased shoreline complexity. Projects have ranged from large beach restoration to enhancement of gravel and wood berms fronting single-family residences. A 900-foot long beach on Blakely Island in San Juan County was restored in early 1998 and the backshore area was extensively replanted. An 850 ft long enhanced beach that included a wide gravel berm and a replenished sandy backshore was constructed at a severely degraded Samish Island beach in 1997. Monitoring results are presented for 3 years for these 2 sites. Smaller Soft shore protection projects are also presented. Further work needs to be conducted to document and improve project performance and acceptance of soft shore protection. Rigorous assessment of project performance to include current beach surveys at a variety of old and newer projects is required.
Keyphrases
soft shore protection bulkhead soft shore protection bulkhead project project performance coastal sediment supply wide gravel berm wood berm single-family residence indigenous material current beach survey large beach restoration puget sound rigorous assessment well-informed citizen northwest strait blakely island soft shore protection alternative work need beneficial element backshore area smaller soft shore protection project root mass traditional hard bulkheading woody debris shoreline complexity high-tide beach san juan county 900-foot long beach degraded samish island beach natural process sediment-starved coastal system replenished sandy backshore
